Almost all people like flowers. Some people like flowers because of their smells, shapes, colors and so on. Others like flowers because they think different flowers mean different things. Flowers have their own language. For example, red roses mean “love” and sunflowers mean “loyalty(忠诚)”. So people in more than 100 countries have chosen their own national flowers which say something about their countries’ spirit. In 1994, China talked about choosing a national flower. Some people liked the peony(牡丹) but others liked the plum blossom(梅花). They couldn’t agree with each other. So it has not been decided yet.
People like to buy different flowers in different seasons. Where do all the beautiful flowers in shops come from? They may come from far away, so their price is higher.
a. Farmers grow flowers in their fields.
b. Planes or trains or buses take the flowers to different places.
c. Flower shopkeepers buy flowers from the flower markets. They look after the flowers and throw away the broken or bad ones. They cut the flowers to make them more beautiful.
d. You go to buy the flowers in the shops. When you buy a flower, you’re paying lots of people: the farmer, the driver of the plane or train or bus, the seller in the flower market and the flower shopkeeper.
So you’d better keep your flowers from far away for a long time. But how? Why not dry them? It’s easy! Sand drying is a way. Dry, clean sand is one of the oldest things for drying flowers. And it’s one of the cheapest.
·Fill a box half-way with sand.
·Put the flowers on top of the sand.
·Put the box in a warm, dry place.
·Leave the flowers there for one to three weeks.
·Take them out and they will be dry.
【小题1】The underlined words “national flowers” most probably means ______.

A.the flowers of the country
B.the flowers of the season
C.the most beautiful flowers
D.the strongest flowers
【小题2】People usually choose their own “national flower” according to (根据) the flower’s ______.
A.smellB.shapeC.colorD.meaning
【小题3】The Chinese national flower has not been decided yet, because ______.
A.no flower can show China’s spirit
B.China hasn’t talked to choose the national flower
C.nobody agrees to choose the national flower
D.people can’t agree to choose the same flower.
【小题4】You’d better keep your flowers for a long time, because ______.
A.the flowers are easy to dry
B.the farmer will also ask you to pay
C.the flowers are expensive to buy
D.the shopkeeper has made them more beautiful
【小题5】Sand drying is everything here in the following but ______.
A.easyB.cleanC.oldD.cheap

We always want to prepare ourselves to the changes we may face when we go to a different country. Well, I have to say that for me, even after living in the US for one year and a half, I am still not used to the changes of weather, or how to manage my money well. There are many things that can give us culture shocks, but it is up to us whether to make it a big shock or a small one.

I know that changing schools was a big thing for me. It helped me to be stronger and open towards meeting new people.  Sometimes it feels like everybody is already in a group. This makes it harder for someone else to go in. But, it is not that hard. Actually many people know that you are from another country. They feel curious about your “history”, and would often think you are a different man.

Another thing that can produce a shock to me is the sudden change of weather. During the last couple of days, there was an ice-snow storm. It was the biggest in 15 years in the state of Missouri. It was raining ice, really, and you could hear sounds outside the window like little pieces of rocks hitting it, of course it was the ice. It started accumulating so heavily that the University had to close down for two days, and it got worse when it started snowing after the ice storm.

As international students, you may at times find something very difficult, but hey, anyone can beat and overcome it to make studying aboard an unforgettable experience.

1.The author has been in the US for          .

A.one year

B.one and a half years

C.two years

D.two and a half years

2.Changing schools        .

A.was just a small thing for the author

B.made it harder for the author to go into new people’s group

C.helped the author to be stronger and open towards meeting new people

D.made all people think the author was a different man

3.The underlined word “accumulating” means       in Chinese.

A.堆积

B.融化

C.结冰

D.移动

4.Which of the following is NOT mentioned to be a shock for the author when he studied in the US?

A. The big changes of weather.  

B. B.Managing money.

C.Changing schools.           

D.Difference in language.

5.What is the main idea of this article?

A.We may often change school to get used to living in a different country.

B.The author exercised a lot during the ice-snow storm and became stronger.

C.Students form other countries are curious about American history.

D.Studying abroad is cool though there are difficulties.

 

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